Split Blood
by shewhowalkswithwolves
Summary: When Sapphire makes a shocking discovery concerning her twin nieces, she must confront her past in order to help them understand their Mer blood. But the Ingo's strength is rising and Sapphire isn't sure if she can protect the twins for long... and besides, things have got very complicated between herself, Faro and Patrick...
1. Chapter 1

"For - crying - out - loud," I say jerkily, staring Conor in the eye. "Accept - it. I - don't - want - another - dog."

"Last time I checked you just didn't want another Labrador," he tells me. Then his face softens. "_Please_, Saph. Rainbow drove all the way up to Plymouth to pick him up."

"_Him_?" I tap my feet, arms folded. "I don't want a boy. If I _must_ have a puppy, I want a girl, like my Sadie."

"There weren't any girls left, and besides -" Conor drops to one knee, his eyes pleading with me. "If you don't take him Saph, I think we'll have to. Rainbow's totally in love with him. And I can't handle a pup on top of the twins."

A smile twists the corners of my lips. "Are you starting to hate fatherhood, then, Con?"

"No, it's just a little exhausting." Conor sighs, ruffles his short dark hair. I don't know why he cut it. I liked it long. "_Please_ take the puppy. Please."

"Why don't you give him to Mum and Roger?" I demand.

"Sapphire, accept the present," Conor says icily. "For Rainbow's sake, okay?"

At that moment Rainbow herself strides in, smiling sunnily as always, cradling a small curly bundle of fluff. Two bright, dark eyes shine from a flop of black fur. The puppy struggles and Rainbow laughs, kissing the top of its head.

I look to Conor. He shakes his head helplessly.

I force a beaming smile and reach for my new burden.

It's a poodle, they tell me as I pull the pup close. A miniature poodle. I curse Conor silently. A yappy little dog. Brilliant. Just flipping brilliant.

"Does he have a name?" I ask as Rainbow chatters on excitedly about my new responsibility's fantastic pedigree.

"We've been calling him some name Conor picked. We call him Faro," says Rainbow.

I glare thunderously at Conor. _You cannot be ******* serious_, I mouth.

The puppy wriggles in my arms, snarling as it lunges for my hand. I whip it out of the way. Great. A puppy who likes to play with its teeth.

I flip through a list of names in my head. "Uh, I'll call him, uh, Shep," I decide.

Conor and Rainbow burst out laughing.

I hold the puppy close, protectively. "Okay, then, I'll call him Hamish. Happy now?"

I storm out, keeping the puppy tucked under my raincoat. Outside a strong Cornish squall has blown in over the cliffs; I walk briskly down the lane towards my cottage, when suddenly there's a voice behind me.

"Saph? Oh, Saph, come on, wait up."

As I turn round I see Conor running up the lane. He looks wild, dishevelled. He shakes his head at me, water droplets flying off his hair. "You've still got such a temper, Saph."

The puppy squirms against my chest, warm and soft. A delicious puppy smell of milk and salt drifts up from his dark curly fur.

"Saph, I'm sorry. It was a joke." Conor puts his arm around me. I lean into him. From the window of the cottage I can see Rainbow watching, on either side of her a green-eyed girl. The twins, Olivia and Eleanor. I smile as I look at my ten-year-old nieces. Ollie and Ellie. Already tiny versions of me, but with some of Rainbow's sweetness and Conor's humour. It's weird, but they don't look much like their mum at all, more like how I looked when I was ten. When I first discovered….

"I wanted to talk to you," Conor mumbles. "I had to tell you something. It's about the girls."

"_Your_ girls?" I ask. He nods. Swallows.

"They are _your _girls, aren't they?"

"Yes, Saph!" he snaps. Then his face convulses. "But they're not Rainbow's."

"What?"

"Remember when Rainbow and I took that trip to Lapland, just before we had the girls?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I met someone there. Elvira."

"Oh my God!" My hands fly to my face. The puppy screams. I grab him just in time, hugging him for support. I kiss the top of his head, poking through the top of my jacket.

"Sorry, Hamish."

Conor sniggers again at the name.

"Shut _up_, Con! Tell me more. Was this why you stayed on in Lapland? It wasn't for work or whatever? Rainbow thought you were having an affair. She cried a lot while you were gone. That's why she was living with me when you came back."

My brother rakes his hands through his hair. "Oh God. I never knew that."

Images skid through my brain. _Elvira, Elvira. Elvira. _The beautiful, gentle, calm Mer girl whom Conor almost fell in love with when he was sixteen. The Mer girl who left him to live in the Arctic.

Let me explain.

When Conor was twelve and I was ten, our dad, Mathew, disappeared. Everyone thought he had drowned, but Con and I always believed he was alive. A year later, we both met someone very special - two children, twins, named Faro and Elvira. They were strange friends for us to have, in that they both had tails and were almost 100% Mer.

They showed us their underwater world, a world known as Ingo - a magical land filled with fish, whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles, and, most importantly, other Mer. Including our dad, who had fallen in love with Faro and Elvira's aunt Mellina and had a Mer-baby named Mordowrgi. This meant that Conor and I were half-Mer. After several wild adventures - and plenty of close calls - Elvira decided to go and live in the North, far away from our home in Cornwall, and Con and I decided to leave Ingo alone for a while. Little did we know that we'd never go back.

And now, fifteen years later, Conor's married to my best friend with two daughters, and I'm the district nurse for Senara Churchtown. Mum, who lives in Senara with us, always wanted me to be a doctor, but as I didn't want to stray too far from my past I decided to stay and be a district nurse. I don't get much work - people round here don't call for me as soon as their kids start to sniffle, like they might in other places - but it allows me to stay near my family. And the cove where I met Faro.

And now Conor's telling me his daughters are cursed with both Mer blood and a missing parent. I know from my own experience what this means: endless agony, wanting so hard to be in Ingo, to see and be with your loved one. Lucky for Ellie and Ollie that they've got Rainbow, but not knowing why they're so drawn to the sea will be so confusing for them. I stare at Conor in anguish.

His gaze meets mine. "I didn't mean to see her. I went out for a walk one night. Rainbow wasn't feeling well so she stayed in the hotel, and I went down to the seashore. _She_ was there, waiting for me, lying on an ice floe. She's even more beautiful now, Saph. She just said my name and then we were in each other's arms."

He covers his face with his hands.

"It was the next morning that she came to find me. Rainbow was asleep and I crept out to get some air, and Elvira dragged herself onto the shore and called for me with her thoughts. That was a weird feeling, I can tell you. I went running, and then she told me. She told me she was having my baby."

"Babies," I say.

"We didn't know that at the time, Saph. Apparently it's incredibly common for Mer women to have twins."

"I know. Faro mentioned it once."

"Yeah. Well, I felt terrible about it, but I fobbed Rainbow off with some excuse and stayed until the twins were born. She dragged herself onto an iceberg a lot during her pregnancy - she got tired a lot - so the girls were born with legs. We'd agreed beforehand that if they were born with tails, she'd keep them, and if they were born with legs, I would.

"I came to her the morning they were born. She looked so pale, and they were such pretty babies."

"I remember. Mum was besotted with them."

He gives a wan smile. "Yeah. Anyway, she looked me in the eye, and she said. "You're married, aren't you, Conor?" I said yes, even though Rainbow and I were only engaged at that point, and she said, "Take them, Conor. Take our children. I know you and your wife will care for them like your own." And then she kissed the girls, and handed them to me, and then she slipped beneath the surface of the water and sank out of sight."

He wipes tears from his eyes.

"Who named them?" I ask softly, stunned. "Not Elvira…."

"No, not Elvira. Well, she gave them outlandish Mer names, but of course I couldn't possibly keep them. No, when I got back home I told Rainbow that the girls had been abandoned out on the ice, that nobody would take them and that they'd have had to go into care if I hadn't adopted them. She took to them right away, you know what she's like. She chose the name Eleanor and I chose Olivia. Their middle names are Jennifer and Matilda, after Mum and Dad, but I gave them secret middle names as well. Eleanor Matilda Hwoer and Olivia Jennifer Kerenza."

"_Hwoer Kerenza_! Dear sister!"

"_Yes_. They are sisters. Mer sisters. They should have had Mer names, but, well, I wanted them to be…. human."

Human. As Conor always wanted to be. As he always wanted me to be. As I thought I'd become.

But now, at the mention of Ingo, of Elvira, of Mer blood pure and strong, I can feel an old stirring in my chest. I look into Conor's eyes and I know he feels it too.

"That's alright, Con," I say firmly. "We'll help them. We'll help them _together_. We'll show them their world."

"No!" Conor's voice is a thunderclap. "They're my kids, mine and Rainbow's. Elvira's gone, and though you may hate it, Saph, Faro is too. We're normal, or almost normal, and my daughters are going to be as well."

He storms off towards the cottage.

"No, Con," I say, my voice shaking. "It doesn't matter what you say or do, they'll feel the pull. The call of Ingo will reverberate in their ears. They'll go, they'll see the Mer. We need to tell them before they're drawn in too far."

He turns, and his face is stiff with despair. He knows I'm right, that there's nothing we can do to prevent his daughters' Mer blood swimming to the surface.

"They're half-Mer, Conor," I say.

"More like three-quarters," he says gently. "Remember, Saph, we're half-Mer too."

"Ingo is strong in them," I say. Then I freeze. "I might be able to help, though. Conor, I'm going to try something. I'll be back here tomorrow at eleven, alright?"

Then I'm gone, racing through the drizzly half-light, hugging the puppy close.


	2. Chapter 2

Inside the cottage I dump Hamish in the living room, then feel so guilty that I turn and wrap him in a tartan rug, bundling him into my arms. He makes a frustrated noise and straightens himself, flicking his tail.

"Sorry, Hamish, darling," I say, then give a start. That was how I used to talk to Sadie, my Labrador, who was put down three years ago, aged fourteen. _Come on, Sadie darling, it's nice and warm in here. Come for a cuddle, Sadie darling. I'll just see to your dinner, Sadie darling. _I scold myself silently. Hamish isn't a replacement for Sadie. Sadie was a sister, a best friend. Hamish is - well, a dog.

I wander upstairs and into my bedroom, which faces the sea. Setting Hamish down gently on my bed, I watch as he stretches his tiny legs and totters unstably across the rumpled duvet; finally he settles on the tartan rug. He cocks his head at me; I have to admit, he really is quite unbearably cute. Just looking at him makes me want to sweep him into my arms -

No, Sapphire. He's no Sadie. You only took him to make Rainbow and Conor happy; they hate that you're on your own.

_Not after today, if I can find what I'm looking for. _

The thought sends bubbles of excitement flickering inside me.

I flip open my jewellery box, which is sat atop my dressing-table. I fumble with rings, necklaces, cufflinks, eyes roving desperately. Then I see it: a dark plaited curl of interwoven hair. A bracelet. _Deublek._ I grab it, brush the dust from between the fibres. It's my hair, mine and Faro's. I stroke the familiar pattern, then jam it on my wrist, in its proper place. I remember the day I took it off for the first time since it was made, slipping it off so gently, kissing it, then tucking it into my jewellery box. Out of sight, out of mind. It sort of worked as well, until now.

_Deublek. Two together are stronger than one._

Yes.

We are strong together, Faro, and together we will help our nieces.

Slamming the lid of the box shut, I prepare to run from the room. Then I hear an indignant squeak.

Hamish. Of course.

All these years, it's been Sadie who kept me from slipping so deeply into Ingo that I could no longer emerge. And now that responsibility's been passed onto Hamish.

Maybe it's for the best.

"Sorry, Hamish, lad," I say quietly, scooping him into my arms. "My cottage isn't the best place for a pup."

He sniffs the _deublek_ as I carry him downstairs. Suddenly he goes stiff in my arms. Hackles raised, he gives a high-pitched but definite snarl.

I giggle.

Angered, he snaps at my _deublek_, barking with all his puppy might. I remember how Sadie hated all things Ingo, too.

"It's alright, Hamish, lamb," I whisper calmingly. "I'm not going _into _Ingo. I'm just going to meet a friend. A very old, very true friend."

Hamish's wild growls quieten. He yawns widely. Then his body goes limp as he falls asleep.

Carefully I lay him on the couch, swaddled in his tartan blanket. His head lolls but the thick dark fur around his eyes flickers as if he's blinking, as if he's looking at me. I make soothing murmuring sounds until he falls fully asleep, smooth his warm puppy ear one last time, then slip silently out of the cottage.

I hurry down the track, then make the scramble down to our cove quicker than I should, desperate to see if I can summon Faro. When I reach the cove I stand at the water's edge, staring at the rocks where I first met the feisty Mer-boy, focussing my thoughts on where I am, and on where Faro is, or where I think he is, anyway: the Groves of Aleph, where he rules as Guardian of Ingo.

Clasping my _deublek_, I send thoughts to him. _Are you there, Faro? Are you there, _broder_? I have news, about my brother and your sister. I need your help. _I send this pattern again and again, into the rippling carpet of waves. My skin grows wet and clammy from the persistent drizzle. My eyes flash bright behind their lids every time I blink; the horizon becomes dim and milky in the fog.

Finally I hear the faint, familiar trace of a reply, a tickle at the back of my mind. _Greetings, little sister_, says a deep voice as smooth as water, and I feel a hop of joy.

_Faro! It's been so long! I didn't know if we could still do it. _

_Of course we can, _hwoer kerenza_. We are bound by our _deublek _and by the journeys we have made together. Nothing shall ever separate us._

It's then that I see the smooth dark head curling through the waves, the shadow of a magnificent seal-like tail swishing just beneath the surface. "Faro!" I give a muffled shout. His face, craggy and tanned, rises, agonizingly slowly. I see a muscular chest, thick arms, eyes that glint just like Conor's. Faro, older and wiser, smiles and tosses his thick mane of dark hair away.

"Hello, Sapphire," he says, speaking full Mer. I understand every word.

It takes all my strength to scramble around the rocks and not plunge straight into the water with him. When I reach him he pulls me close and smooths my hair with his broad long-fingered hand.

"You have changed much, little sister," he says.

"Have I?" I say breathlessly. Faro beams.

"Yes. All in good ways."

Faro. I just want to dive in beside him, to slip beneath the silken surface, to ride the currents, chase the dolphins, have fun. But I'm not twelve anymore, and I've got to tell him something vital.

"Faro, something enormous has happened. Elvira has had Conor's children."

His eyes widen. I wait for it to sink in, then quickly fill him in on the rest of the details. Faro's strong tail lashes impatiently underwater the whole time.

"I have not heard from my sister in years," he says slowly, when I'm finished. "I have waited to hear her thoughts, but none have come. And the journey is far too long to make when I am not certain that she will be there when I arrive. It is good to hear she is safe, and alive, and has children, but the conundrum of their blood…. that is very difficult."

"We can't just leave the girls to find out on their own," I babble. "They could drown, or meet Mer people, or - or -"

"Calm down, Sapphire. We will not leave them to find out. You shall bring them to me and you and I, and Conor too, if he will, shall show them Ingo. We shall show them _their _world." He finishes triumphantly, grinning.

"I don't know if Conor will listen." I explain to him about Conor's desire for the girls to be human. Faro's eyes flash like black glass.

"They're far more Mer than human," he growls. "And Conor will just have to accept that. They're of two worlds, though more of Ingo than of Air, and they will have to learn how to get the balance right, as you and Conor did. But for them, the lesson will be far harder. The scales in their blood have been tipped; they've only a little human in them, and they're living in a human world."


	3. Chapter 3

"So this must be Hamish!"

It's the next morning about a quarter to eleven, and I've come to Mum's cottage to ask a favour.

Mum rises from the table, smiling, as I walk in the door. She wiggles a finger at Hamish, who sits regally in my arms, wrapped, as always, in his tartan blanket. "Conor told me all about him. My, he's even sweeter than Sadie!"

"No he's not," I snap. Mum shakes her head at me.

"You mustn't be afraid to love him, Sapphy. Getting attached isn't the same as setting yourself up for a fall. I know you adored Sadie but, Sapphy, she was a _dog_. Of course she wasn't going to live _very _long."

Roger, Mum's partner, joins us. Even aged fifty-three, he's tanned and wiry, his teeth very white against his brown skin. "Hello, Sapphire. This is Hamish, is it? How d'you do, little fella?"

I bundle Hamish into Mum's arms. She flips her head back over her shoulder to talk to Roger. "Gorgeous, isn't he? Saph won't admit how sweet he is. I think she's just being loyal to Sadie."

"When I got Sadie you didn't even like dogs," I say crossly.

"Well, maybe I've mellowed in my old age," chuckles Mum. "And besides, Sadie was an adult when we got her; Hamish is a lovely little puppy, aren't you, baby?"

"I'm glad you like him so much," I say, setting down my bag of all of Hamish's new things: bed, food bowl, bag of puppy food, toys. "Because actually, I was about to ask you if you'd look after him for the morning. I've got a really urgent case over in St. Pirans, teenager with suspected meningitis…."

"Of course we'll take care of him, Sapphire," says Roger.

Mum's flushed with pride. I know how much she loves the fact that I'm a trained nurse, like she used to be. "You just go and help that poor teenager, Sapphy. We'll look after your Hamish."

I feel horrible lying to Mum, especially as she's so proud of me. I say my hasty goodbyes and leave on my bike, the white placard with the green medical cross pinned to the back of the seat. If anyone sees my bike outside Conor's I'll say that I stopped on the way back to give the girls a checkup, but to be safe when I arrive I wheel it into the lean-to propped against the side of the cottage. There; now it's pretty much invisible to passers-by.

To my surprise Granny Carne is there when I go in. Granny Carne is an old woman who's lived in our village for God knows how long. Some call her a witch, some a sorceress, but what everyone knows is that she's the best person to go to for advice; if she's here now it must mean something.

She's leaning against the whitewashed stone wall. "Hello, Sapphire," she says as I enter. I spot Rainbow, lying on her back on the sofa. She smiles in greeting.

"Hi Sapphy. Come and sit down. I've got something to tell you."

I look around for Conor and the girls but they're not there.

"Con's taken the kids down to the cove," says Rainbow, and I feel a lurch of fear which is quickly smothered by reason. _No, Con won't let anything happen to them. He'll stop them from going in the water, I'm sure of it. They'll be safe with him. He'll not let them out of his sight._

"Don't worry, Sapphire," says Granny Carne. I sit down in an armchair and she puts a hand on my knee.

"I haven't even told Conor this," Rainbow begins. She fixes her gaze on me. "Sapphy, Conor's told you that the girls were adopted, hasn't he?"

I nod.

"Well, he doesn't know that he's about to have a third child, a child of his own. _My_ child."

Rainbow touches her stomach.

I gasp. _How could I have been so blind? I'm a medical professional - it's my job to spot the signs of pregnancy. Rainbow's been so tired, so out of breath, she's taken to wearing baggy clothing. How long has this been going on under my radar?_

"How far gone are you?" I gulp.

Rainbow laughs lightly. "Eight months, Sapphire. I'm having the baby very soon."

_How could we not have noticed? How? How? How?_

Conor works upcountry a lot. He works for a charity that preserves sealife. Our journey in Ingo inspired him to try and make a difference. He's got a flat in Plymouth where he stays quite a lot. I suppose it's logical that he wouldn't have seen Rainbow's pregnancy for what it was.

But me. I stay here all year round. I spend loads of time with Rainbow. How did I not spot that my best friend was about to have a baby?

"Jennie knows," says Rainbow quietly.

Mum knew. Mum spotted it and I didn't.

"I can't believe it," I say, then compose myself. "It's wonderful news, Rainbow. Do you know what you're having?"

"No, I asked for them not to tell me. I wanted it to be a surprise," she tells me, smiling. "I'm sure I'll be ecstatic, whether it's a boy or a girl."

That's just like Rainbow - happy either way.

"And the twins don't know?" Granny Carne breaks in. I jump. I'd forgotten she was here.

Rainbow hesitates. "Well - Ollie does. Not Ellie."

I nod. I can understand that. Ollie's shy, sweet, sensitive, but clever. She'd understand that she had to keep her mouth shut without being told. Ellie, however, is a true force of nature. Nothing quiet or intuitive about her. She wouldn't understand why her mother wanted to keep such a big secret quiet.

It's then that I realise something. Rainbow's unborn baby, though she doesn't know it, has the same balance of Mer and human as the twins - only her blood is tipped the other way. Rainbow's the most human person I know - her hopes, dreams, future are all bound in earth. She has no longing for Ingo, distant or immediate. Air is strong in her blood. But Conor's blood is split down the middle, though he's tried so hard to fight it. While Ellie and Ollie are 75% Mer, the baby is 75% human.

The front door bursts open. The twins run in, giggling, but stop dead when they see Granny Carne.

Conor follows them in. He looks startled when he sees the three of us.

"What's going on?" he demands.

"Nothing," we say. Rainbow and I exchange a wink. In my brain, however, a new worry is growing, growing as it is in Rainbow's womb. The baby. The 75%-human baby.

How can he or she possibly fit in in a family riddled with Mer blood?


	4. Chapter 4

"So tell me what you found out," Conor barks at me as soon as we're on the cliff-path. We made our excuses, telling everyone we were going for a walk and leaving Ollie making tea for Granny Carne and Ellie excitedly telling her mother about the porpoise they think they saw at the cove.

"I asked for Faro's help," I say. "He says if you and I can bring the girls down to the cove tomorrow at noon, he'll be there. He says we'll show them Ingo and then bring them home."

"You spoke to Faro?" Suddenly Conor has me by the shoulders. "Saph? Do you realise how dangerous this is? Do you want to end up with part-Mer children too?"

"Conor!"

He sighs and stuffs his hands in his pockets. "Saph, I just don't want you to get hurt. And I don't want Faro charging around Ingo with _my daughters_! Remember how irresponsible he could be when we were kids?"

"He'll have grown up. He'll have had to. He's Guardian of Ingo now."

Conor looks surprised. "Saldowr's dead?"

I nod, remembering what Faro told me. "He went to Limina last summer. He'd been ill for a long time. I think Faro was relieved in the end."

Conor shakes his head. "Poor Saldowr. I'd have felt better letting the girls into Ingo if he'd still been around, but I suppose I've got no choice."

"What language are you speaking?" says a curious little voice.

Conor and I spin round. Standing in the middle of the path behind us, head on one side, eyes narrowed, is Ellie. I give a soft groan. Conor's eyes flick in my direction warningly.

"Language?" says Conor. Realisation swims over his face. He turns to me and says quietly, "Saph. We were speaking _Mer_."

I startle. How many other times have I done that? Just started speaking in Mer in public, without realising it?

"Er, pig latin," says Conor quickly in Ellie's direction. He makes a big show of winking at me. "Arkshay atway eethray o'clockway, Saph!"

I cringe.

Ellie frowns. "No you weren't. Dad, what's going on?"

"Nothing, Ellie," I tell her. "Con and I were just seeing if we could have a conversation in pig latin, that's all. I'm sure you and Ollie do things like that."

"It _sounded_ like you were speaking _Cornish_," Ellie said matter-of-factly. "A man who came to our school, he spoke Cornish. He taught us a few words."

"Yes, okay, I was practising Cornish," says Conor. "I - er, found an old book in Cornish and I've been learning a few words."

"_Hou_," says Ellie, smiling smugly. "That means hello."

She skips along ahead of us as we walk back to Conor and Rainbow's cottage, proud of her knowledge. When we reach the cottage I go straight into the lean-to to fetch my bike. I pedal out onto the track. Conor waits for me.

"I'll meet you in the cove, with the girls, tomorrow at noon," I say firmly. "Be there."

Then I kick off and speed away before he has time to protest.

Sun shimmers on the water. The rocks glisten, wet and salt-streaked. The sky's a pale watercolour blue but the sun's warm on my back. It's a perfect spring day. The Easter holidays are well underway; when Con and I were young we'd have spent a day like this in this very place, our cove, swimming and exploring the caves.

I'm wearing normal clothes: a t-shirt and lightweight trousers. There's no need for wetsuits in Ingo. I know that Conor will have dressed himself and the girls appropriately too.

The sun has reached its peak point in the sky. They're late.

"Greetings, little sister," says an oily voice. I nearly fall off the rocks; in the water is Faro, punctual as usual, grinning up at me. Just his head and neck are visible, the rest of him submerged in sea.

"I thought you'd stopped calling me that," I say, kneeling so that I can talk to him more easily.

Faro shrugs. His eyes sweep the cove, searching for Conor and the twins. "But where are our nieces, Sapphire? Has Conor decided not to let them come?"

_I hope not. _Faro chuckles and I realise that he must have heard my thought. I bite my lip, scanning the clifftop for a sign of their arrival, when I hear a shout.

"AUNTIE SAPH! WHO ARE YOU SPEAKING CORNISH TO?"

Relief swells in me. Ellie. They're here.

Faro quirks an eyebrow. Ellie skitters down the muddy bank, sliding, face glowing ruby-red with excitement. Behind her Conor and Ollie walk with more care. I see Conor's eyes zip between Faro, Ellie and me, keeping track of all contact.

Ellie stops, breathless, a few feet away from Faro and I. I see her eyes bug. "Who's this?" she demands. "Dad said we were coming to meet someone. Is this him?"

"Ellie," Conor says warningly.

Faro opens his mouth, but I dive in first.

"Ellie," I say steadily, as Ollie and Conor trot up beside us. "Ollie. This is your Uncle Faro."

Faro smiles easily.

Ollie looks like the Loch Ness Monster just breached the surface in front of her. She stares at Faro, drenched in shock. Ellie's grin is breathless and startled, joy and thunderous, pounding curiosity showing on her face.

"Is he - your brother?" Ollie asks at last.

I shake my head, then change my answer. "Well. Sort of."

"And he isn't Mum's," adds Ellie. "We've met Uncle Pat _and_ Uncle River and this guy isn't either of them."

Conor takes both girls by the hand. "Girls, remember when we explained to you how you weren't our real daughters?"

They both nod silently.

"Well, we were sort of lying. Or I was. Mum doesn't know this, but - I'm your real dad. It's just, well, Rainbow isn't your real mum. Faro's sister is."

Ollie and Ellie gaze goggle-eyed first at Conor, then at me, then at their newfound uncle, beaming at them from the sea.

"Oh yeah, and there's something else we've got to tell you," I break in, before Conor can lose his nerve. I gesture for Faro to reveal himself. "Uncle Faro - and your real mum - have tails."

The girls' faces drain of colour as Faro flicks his sleek, strong seal-like tail out of the water. Then he performs my favourite trick: smooth, rapid underwater somersaults, fired off like bullets from a machine-gun.

"We all have Mer blood," Conor continues, hugging the girls close to him. "All of us. You, me, Aunt Sapphy, and especially Faro here. Our dad - your Grandad Mathew - was Mer. He used to live in Ingo, under the sea, where Faro comes from -"

"But then he died," says Ellie, her voice unusually soft.

Conor nods and swallows hard. "Yes. And then he died."

Faro resurfaces, smiling at the girls. "Hello, daughters of Ingo. You are my kin; my sister, Elvira, was your mother and you are bound to me by blood. Welcome! You are truly daughters of Ingo now, and now I will show you your true home."

Conor scowls and pulls the girls closer.

Faro smiles and stretches out a hand in my direction. "Sapphire?"

My heart's thumping, pulling Mer blood around my body like a fish on a line. It's been so long since I've been into Ingo - I'd almost forgotten the wonders of the underwater kingdom. But when I choose to remember, the memories are as vivid as sapphires in the sun.

I take my last breath of Air, and let Faro - and my Mer blood - take me home.


	5. Chapter 5

I'm fully underwater, and my first thoughts are, _At last. _

I feel the flush of Ingo in my blood. My eyes open wide, and I see the world swell and tumble with glorious colour. There's a stunning moment when my heart lifts and sways like a boat tossed on the waves, and then I'm kicking, flying, turning, cartwheeling, eleven again.

I'm so caught up in Ingo I barely register the three splashes of Conor, Ollie and Ellie entering the water. But then Faro's beside me, his old smirk glistening on his face, half-hidden by his swirling hair, and he speaks, and I hear the words loud and clear in my mind: _Are you ready, little sister?_

I grin back at him. _Always. _I turn - and then my heart falters.

There's Conor, swimming smoothly as he's always done, his stroke strong and capable. His face is swarming with the same old joy that I know mine is. But there's more there - wistfulness, sadness, pain and worry. His lungs stab in and out, desperate to find more air in Ingo, and I know that, although he's trying to let the water fill his mind, he can't wash away his images of Rainbow, Mum and Roger, the girls. And there's one thing I know he's trying to forget - that the last time we were in Ingo, our Dad died in my arms.

However wonderful it is, Ingo is not a safe place. I know Conor's struggling to think of his girls -

THE GIRLS! Where are the girls? How could I have been so selfish, so stupid? I remember the first time I entered Ingo - how I couldn't let go of the Air, how the water in my lungs felt like a knife in the chest. And where _are_ Ollie and Ellie?

I glance around wildly. Where are _we_? We're still in the cove - I can see the rocks that line the sides - but we're further out, deeper. Currents tug and play beneath my feet. I remember how fast and powerful they are, how I could zip in and out, but also how I had to be careful, how they could take me anywhere. If the twins got caught up in one of them -

No. Don't think about that. Just concentrate on finding them.

There they are! Conor's towing one of them by the wrist, and as the bubbles clear I recognise Ollie's serious expression, her pinched brow. I swim forward eagerly, but then I see that Ollie's cradling someone in her free arm. Ellie. It's Ellie, and her face is blue. Her chest heaves in and out, her lips purple and swollen. Ollie and Conor are starting to look frantic. In my head I scream for Faro and power forwards, gathering the nearly-unconscious Ellie into my arms.

I stare down at her. The fiery expression, the cheeky smile, the glint in her eyes - they're all gone. She's barely alive. How could I have left her to manage on her own? How could I have got so caught up in my old world, my old life, that I abandoned my nieces to the mercy of Ingo?

There's a flicker to my right, and then Faro's strong hand grasps Ellie's wrist. Colour flushes into her face and her eyes regain their sparkle. In an instant, she is conscious once more. Conor, Ollie and I sink a little in the water as we let out sighs of relief. And then I realise something.

I turn around and stare at Ollie in amazement. Because where loud, feisty Ellie lies gasping in my arms, serious, quiet Ollie floats calmly beside Conor, holding his hand, breathing the water easily and smiling at me. She looks around. Then her eyes focus on a dark shape, lying low under the water some distance away. "Is that the Bawns?" she says clearly, in flawless Mer.

I'm so astonished I can't answer her.

Faro's eyes flicker with anger. "That is _Limina_," he says pompously, sticking out his chest. "That is what we Mer call it, and have called it since the beginning of our kind. It is where your grandfather's bones rest, Olivia."

"Just Ollie," says a soft moaning voice. "And I'm not Eleanor. Just Ellie. And that's creepy. Is he, like, buried there or what?"

I bend and kiss Ellie. She gazes up at me, and I think of the last flickering lights of Air dancing over my head, how amazing they must look to someone who has never been beneath the Skin before.

Faro snorts. He looks disgusted. "_Buried_? I think not." Before he has a chance to start on one of his self-righteous Mer rants, I swirl through the water, pulling Ellie with me.

"Can you float on your own?" I ask her.

She looks eager. "I think so," she says. I'm pleased to see that her breathing's relaxed, that she's pulling oxygen out of the water as easily as I am. Her natural colour's returned, and she's speaking Mer, as far as I can tell. At least, Faro seems to be able to understand her. She's adjusted to her world, to _our_ world. The thrill of finally, _finally_ being able to share the wonders of Ingo with someone sends a childish tickle of pleasure up my spine.

I help Ellie upright in the water. She keeps a tight grip on my wrist as we move slowly forward. I can see a current racing and twisting in the water ahead. I look back, and see that Conor and Faro have spotted it too: Faro's grinning, and Conor looks concerned. I hold Ellie's wrist even tighter and slip my other arm around her shoulder.

"Okay, Ellie," I tell her. "I think we'll take this current. It'll take us somewhere new. Maybe somewhere warmer."

"Like the Caribbean or something?" she asks.

"Well, maybe not quite that far today. But I'll take you there someday - promise."

"Ollie too?"

"Ollie too."

We swim forward. I feel Faro move to Ellie's other side and see him take her other hand. Conor moves up behind us, and silently Ollie links arms with him. Then Faro and I move forward, pulling Ellie between us, into the thick plaits of speeding water that make up the current.

I've ridden wilder currents, but the high of surfing one again after so much time has passed makes this the ride of my life. I look to my right and see the joy on Ellie's face, and my eyes meet Faro's glittering ones. He's enjoying seeing her happiness as much as I am. Behind us I can feel more than see Conor and Ollie racing along, our five hearts beating as one, Mer blood linking us, pulsing around our adrenaline-pumped bodies.

And then Faro's pulling away, tugging me and Ellie out of the current, and Conor is slipping seamlessly out behind us, Ollie rising above and away from him as they move into open water. She looks so beautiful and confident, really in her element, and somehow…. older. Her face has more shape in water than it does in air, and the shadows pull across it like ribbons, defining her cheekbones and her wide dark eyes. She looks different from Ellie, who still looks just like her old self, except with a greenish tinge to her skin.

"Ready to see where we are, Saph?" Conor asks. I nod. I wonder how far we have travelled: it could be minutes away from our cove, or hundreds of miles.

I notice something as we swim to the surface, into shallow water barely deep enough to hold our bodies: an arc of jagged-edged rock, curving up into the sky, a few feet away from a sheer grey cliff face. Ellie bursts to the surface before I have time to warn her to be careful. By the time I've popped up beside her, she is roaring in excitement.

"Durdle Door!" she shouts.

Faro, scowling slightly, surfaces beside me. Next to him Ollie and Conor break through the Skin as one. Faro hacks in breaths of the air, looking pained. It's easy for me. I haven't been in Ingo for so long getting into the Air again isn't a problem. And Ellie and Conor don't seem to be having much difficulty either. Ollie looks a little pale, but she seems alright.

"Where?" I ask Ellie, placing a finger to my lips as I look around. There's a beach just a few hundred feet away, and I can see people and dogs and horseriders making their way along it. If anyone saw us surface with no explanation of where we came from we'd be toast.

"Durdle Door," replies Ollie, more quietly than her sister. "In Dorset. Mum and Dad took us a while ago - d'you remember, Dad?"

Conor nods. "It's about 180 miles from home - we've travelled really far."

Faro coughs. "That was a fast current, Sapphire."

I look around. The water is so clear and blue it could almost be tropical, and the rock, I now see, arches out of the water to meet a curve descending from the cliff-face. Like a door. I smile at the girls.

"Wanna swim through Durdle Door?"

They grin and dip back under the Skin. I descend beside them, Conor and Faro with me. Faro looks relieved to be back in Ingo. We fin through the water, feeling it part like velvet curtains. Then we're under the archway, and I can see the delight on Ellie's face as she does something truly brag-worthy, something none of her friends will have done.

_Not that she can ever tell them without dramatically altering the story, _I think. The thought gives me a jolt. Ellie's such a big-mouth; Conor and I will have to have a serious conversation with her about keeping secrets….


	6. Chapter 6

It's later (I don't know how much later; time moves differently in Ingo) and we're in the cove. Conor is helping the girls clamber out onto the rocks. It didn't take us long to get the current back. The girls look exhausted, and even Ellie yawns as she struggles onto the little beach beside her dad. Faro and I linger by the mouth of the cove, watching.

Faro turns to me. "They are not like you, Sapphire. Conor has grown old. The girls are - different."

I laugh. "He's not old. And - that's alright, isn't it? You don't need them to be _like me _when you've got the real me."

I look at him. He is studying me thoughtfully. "But you are not like you either, Sapphire. Where is the girl I used to chase in and out of underwater caves? Who rode dolphins beside me?"

I startle. Faro wanted the old me, the playful me, not the me who has grown up and has a job riding her bike around the cliffsides, doling out prescriptions to old age pensioners and stopping for a cup of tea with Rainbow or Granny Carne. He wanted the girl who was his little sister, even though he once vowed he wouldn't call me that.

_I'm here! _I want to shout, even though it would be telling a lie. It's like the little girl I was disappeared under the waves when Faro did - like that part of me swam away into Ingo and never returned….

"SAPH!" Conor waves at me, looking anxious. "COME ON!" He's worried I'll go with Faro, that I'll leave him like our dad did.

Never. Not now. After all, I'm not even Faro's little sister any longer.

I flip my hair over my shoulder and stare Faro in the eye. Suddenly I'm not sad anymore. I feel…. challenged.

"She's here," I say. "You'll see. I'll show her to you. Soon."

Faro raises an eyebrow, smiles. Then I dive under the water and am gone.

Mum and Roger are sitting at the table eating eggs on toast. As I walk in, Mum lifts a finger to her lips and points to a basket in the corner of the room. In there is a curly black ball of fur.

Hamish.

"Went off like a lamb about two hours ago," says Mum softly. She looks me up and down. "My god, Sapphy, you look knackered!"

"I'm fine." I crouch by the basket, smoothing back Hamish's silken ears.

"You sure?" Mum kneels beside me. She takes my head between her hands and turns my face to hers. "Are you sleeping okay, Saph? You look washed out, sweetheart."

After we returned from Ingo Conor and the girls went home, discussing a way to slip past Rainbow as they went. I went home, showered, and changed clothes, then walked over to collect Hamish from Mum and Roger, who looked after him again. I'm ready to drop, but I need to check in with Mum so she doesn't get suspicious like she did when I was a kid and went off to Ingo every weekend.

"Sapphire, look. I know you must get - lonely, in your cottage with just Hamish to keep you company. So Roger and me, we'd like to make you an…. offer."

Roger comes and stands at Mum's shoulder, nodding encouragingly.

Mum takes a deep breath. "I'd like to take you up to Plymouth for a weekend - just me and you. We'll stay in a posh hotel, spend some time in a spa, swim, relax, have cream teas. Talk. We can go shopping. Do girly stuff. We never really did stuff like that when you were a teenager, and I…. regret it. Roger will take care of Hamish here for you."

I narrow my eyes. I know what Mum really wants. She wants me to open up. She wants me to talk to her, to let her in, which I suppose I haven't really done since Dad left us. But there are some things - the things I need to let out - which I can't ever tell her. Those things are shared between Conor and Faro and Elvira and I. Those things Dad took to Limina.

At the time I so wanted to tell her. Dad was alive. Dad hadn't drowned. But she'd never have believed me without proof, and if I'd shown her she would be even more hurt and angry that Dad had made the choice to leave us. I couldn't hurt her like that. I just couldn't.

But when Dad died for real I grieved all over again. And I couldn't tell Mum, couldn't even ask for a cuddle or cry on her shoulder. All I had was Conor, and I think it scarred me more than anything else I ever went through, more than Dad leaving us the first time, more than Dad actually _dying_ \- all this pent-up grief, all those unshed tears.

I smile weakly at Mum. "Thanks Mum. But I don't think I'll have the time. I mean, my job."

She looks disappointed, but then she nods. "Okay, Sapphy." She touches my shoulder, and I can't help but wish that I was eleven and could crawl into her arms for no apparent reason.


End file.
